Vancouver Island Earthquake Magnitude 6.4: Did You Feel It?

We’ve already reported on wildfires, tropical storms and hurricanes this week and the latest news is about an earthquake in Canada, off the coast of British Columbia. The magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck in the last few hours with its epicenter south of Port Hardy close to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The depth of the earthquake was put at 14.3 miles and it struck at 12.41pm PDT, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. An Associated Press report tells how the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center do not anticipate a tsunami. So far there has been no reported damage although people did report that buildings swayed from the Fraser Valley to Campbell River, according to CBC News.

Although a tsunami is not expected a research scientist at the Pacific Geosciences Center, Honn Kao, cautioned about aftershocks saying, “Usually if the earthquake is bigger than magnitude 7 then there will certainly be a possibility that a significant tsunami can be generated. For an earthquake with this kind of magnitude 6.7, although the possibility is still there…we don’t think the threat can be as devastating as those big ones.” The earthquake’s magnitude had been downgraded to 6.4 from higher initial reports.

In Burnaby, east of Vancouver a Translink spokesman, Drew Snider, was on the 17th floor of a Metrotown building and told how the blinds were swaying and how it seemed to go on for about 3 minutes, making some people nervous. At Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island a Royal Canadian Mounted Police dispatcher told how the earthquake was hardly felt there.

Meanwhile one particularly laid back television viewer, David Dickinson of Courtenay said, “I was watching the U.S. Open Tennis downstairs and while sitting on my couch I felt it beginning to move back and forth…. It didn’t frighten me… but it took my attention off the tennis match for a few minutes.” We’re thankful that so far there does not seem to be any reported damage or injuries. We’d be interested to hear your observations about the earthquake. Did you feel it? Let us know with your comments.